Minor League Memories: The Brandon Belt interview (June 2010)
The story behind the story
Originally published June 9, 2010
For background and context into what this is, read this explainer
The San Jose Giants stand in first place in the California League North Division, five games above Modesto. First baseman Brandon Belt stands tall at the plate, leading the Giants in batting average at .385 and RBIs with 46. Belt owns the best batting average in the league and also leads the way with 22 doubles.
Belt isn’t the best power hitter in the league, but he’s showing impressive form at the plate for a guy who can hit home runs. Belt has 41 walks to 33 strikeouts, a rare batter in the league who has walked more than he has struck out.
That kind of patience defines Belt’s every at-bat. He says he waits for the pitches he wants, and lets the less desirable pitches go by. “When I get in trouble hitting-wise is when I swing at bad pitches,” he said.
Belt has thrived in his first pro year, even at the Advanced-A level. San Francisco drafted him in the fifth round last year out of the University of Texas and he’s hitting pro pitching right away. “The hardest part was switching over to wood bats,” he said of his new game. “[The] pitching is pretty much the same as it was in college.”
The Giants made some adjustments to Belt’s mechanics at the plate. While at Texas, Belt had an exaggerated bent leg kick. He’s working through changes to his stance and swing in San Jose. “My whole stance was different in college,” he said. “I was a lot more closed off. As soon as I got to pro ball, they stood me up [straighter] and raised my hands up. [They] also opened me up a bit more. It helped me see the ball better and my hands are a lot freer now. I can stay loose up there. I didn’t adjust [to it] at first but I think I’m coming around now.”
The first baseman is no stranger to hard work. Belt kept sharp during his layoff between his final college season and pro ball by turning to friends back home in Texas. “I have a few friends at home who play college ball. It was easy to get together with them in the batting cages and get some work on the field. One of my friends is a pitcher. I got to face him a bit too. When I was home I was able to face college pitching and still got to work on my batting. It was a good situation for me,” he said.
Earlier in the year the Giants struggled, falling off their usual hot pace. The team fell one game below .500 at its lowest point. Now they’re the hottest team in the league, with four wins in their last seven games.
Belt and the other little Giants looked up to San Francisco second baseman Freddy Sanchez when Sanchez traveled south to rehab his knee. Sanchez played three games with San Jose in May and roped five doubles in nine at-bats.
That type of professional hitting spoke to Belt. “As soon as [Sanchez] came down we started hitting better,” he said. “The whole team started swinging at better pitches and we all got more confident. From there, we started playing better.”
Where are they now?
Belt progressed quickly through the San Francisco Giants minor league organization after being drafted in the 5th round of the MLB draft in 2009. He started his career in Advanced-A San Jose in 2010 and made his Major League debut on March 31, 2011 with the Giants. Belt became a regular in the Giants lineup from 2012 to 2022 and etched his name as a franchise legend in Game 2 of the 2014 National League Division Series versus the Washington Nationals when he hit the go-ahead home run in the top of the 18th inning, 6 hours and 23 minutes into the game.
He was immensely popular among Giants fans (not the LOLKNBR crowd, they aren’t real people) and throughout the Bay Area, as a baseball folk hero and general good guy/icon. He has a giraffe named after him at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, Calif. As you can see above, he was very candid about the work he needed to do to improve early in his career, and he answered my questions about developing his game frankly and without ego.
This interview has its own backstory: I’d actually interviewed Belt earlier in the year for the other publication I wrote for at the time, and I intended to interview him again later in the season. I was on the road in Fresno for my monthly trip to gather interviews and scouting reports from the Giants’ Triple-A team, and I realized I did not schedule my interview for the MiLB.com notebook feature that week.
I had two options: cut my Fresno trip short (and drive 150 miles back home) and come back another time or stay in Fresno and miss my deadline. Leaving Fresno early ran the risk of missing interesting prospects coming through Fresno — this was the period where the Giants had a stacked minor league system and players were moving around very quickly. Of course, I could not miss a deadline.
I was sitting in the Fashion Fair parking lot in Fresno in my car and completely panicking about what to do. I remembered that I had Belt’s number in my phone from our previous interview, so I decided to call him and ask if we could do another interview that day. And he said ok. I got out my digital recorder (yes, I had a separate device just for recording audio), put the call on speaker phone, and I interviewed Brandon Belt in my car in a mall parking lot in Fresno. I stayed up until 3am that night after the Fresno game, writing the feature story and filing it with my editor in my Motel 6 room off Highway 99.
Unfortunately almost nothing from this story persisted into 2023: my sportswriting career ended in 2014, my crappy old Honda died in 2011, the Giants left Fresno as their Triple-A affiliate at the end of 2014, and the digital recorder went to e-waste recycling after I got my first iPhone in 2016. Belt signed a one-year contract with the Toronto Blue Jays in January 2023, where he’s playing designated hitter and first base. Although now that both leagues have the DH, I don’t see why he couldn’t have stayed here.
He was one of the last stars of the Giants’ even year bullshit/2010s World Series run to leave the team or retire. When you look closely, you’ll see many of them aren’t even playing anymore. To play most of your career with one team is a special thing that doesn’t happen that often in today’s game, and to be an integral part of a dynasty that stuck together for a pretty long time puts Belt in rare territory.
I’ve always been a Belt fan and I will continue to support him no matter where he goes. I saw him play across the Giants system and even across the world — I went to a game between Escogido and Licey in La Liga de Béisbol Profesional de la República Dominicana in October 2011 where Belt started at first base for Escogido. He played 28 games and hit an even .300 for Escogido that fall/winter.
I hope Blue Jays fans embrace and appreciate him as much as Giants fans did, because he deserves it.
Stupid joke of the week
None this time. We’re 4-for-5 since the feature began. I wonder what the final ratio will be.
Next week
One of Belt’s current Blue Jays teammates. How do these things always line up?
Previous entries in this series:
Wande Olabisi: From MiLB to MBA
Paul Goldschmidt: Good at baseball
David Chavarria: Coaching since 2001
Didi Gregorius: Good guys wear orange
Matt Davidson: Making history in two leagues
Billy Hamilton: Who tells the story
